Did Metro drop an Easter egg on the Washington Commanders' new stadium site?
Transit officials released an analysis of six options for an expansion of the mass transit system on Monday, one of which includes a Blue Line stop at National Harbor that could send fans to the Oxon Cove site once thought to be a leading candidate for the team’s new home. Certainly, it offers access to an entertainment district at MGM National Harbor Hotel and Casino and National Harbor that Maryland and team officials greatly desire. It’s inside the beltway rather than some far-flung Virginia site and avoids the struggle to regain the RFK venue.
Oxon Cove has always been a lesser option. Sitting on the corner of Maryland, Virginia and Washington requires two things – federal approval and Metro. The feds are considering a 99-year lease at RFK so why not extend the same to Oxon Cove which it also owns? And, Metro just showed how it could access Oxon Cove.
Oh sure, Metro officials said the expansion could be a decade or more in the future. Well, so is the stadium. Funny how timing can be manipulated like the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge finishing just as National Harbor was created. Both were decades in the making and suddenly came together.
So, skip that dance. We’ve seen it already.
Maryland offered to create a $300 million entertainment district by a new stadium adjacent to the current FedEx Field. The response was underwhelming by owner Dan Snyder, who wanted all the revenues versus sharing. That attitude froze Snyder out of Virginia and Washington. Now, incoming owner Josh Harris gets a fresh start with area lawmakers and the bottom line is nobody really wants to stay in Landover. You can still smell the stink of the last 26 years in Raljon.
Plan B for Maryland officials was Oxon Cove where farmland just inside the beltway provides more room than the RFK site. Everyone makes money off this site. The problem is it’s federally owned and Maryland was ghosted by the feds over their proposals. So, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan gave up and shifted to Landover.
But, there’s a different governor in Maryland and a different president in the White House for negotiations. Having a Metro station there would be a game-changer. This has the makings of a deal. If the feds don’t want to sell it – and why not? It’s not like they’re pumping oil from the RFK or Oxon Cove sites – then a 99-year lease works fine, too. A classic political trick of kicking the can down the road.
Metro stops are expensive, but the Commanders have an ally with deep pockets in MGM and National Harbor. Their businesses will mega-boom with Metro access versus the current system of taking a bus from the Branch Ave. metro that only the desperate use. The casino and resort know thousands of people will arrive daily via metro and Commanders game days will be massive hauls with lots of first-time patrons.
The arms race for a new Commanders stadium was nearly down to a butter knife fight. Now the nuclear option of Metro is possible. It’s about to get interesting even if taking forever to finalize.
Follow Rick Snider on Twitter: @Snide_Remarks
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